Dimensions
by Faith-x
Summary: The voices. The visions. They've been haunting Hiccup ever since... Well, ever since that certain day at Raven's Point. But now they have stopped. But the world seems to have gone crazy all around him.
1. Chapter 1

It started the next morning. The voices, the strange visions, the constant pain. It would seem like someone was saying something or he'd see something out of the corner of his eye. After a couple months, he would wander up to the cliff-side and stare out at the sky and dream of flying.  
He tried to do dragon training, but got told to not come back after the first few times due to a few accidents. He watched from the sidelines as Astrid emerged victorious, slaughtering the Monstrous Nightmare in the ring. The next day there was a serious accident in the forge, severely burning his left leg. It was saved, barely. He would have to wear an awkward metal brace until it fully healed. Gothi said he wouldn't be able to run or fight dragons until it did. It still hasn't after four years.  
The voices started off pretty soft, but the day that Astrid became victorious in the ring, he heard her loud and clear. _"I bet he's pretty scared right now. What are you going to do about it?"_ He looked around wildly trying to figure out where it had come from. But with everyone cheering and shouting, it was hard to tell.  
Hiccup decided he had gone insane about a month after the forge accident. He had finally been cleared for work by Gothi and had just limped into the shop when he noticed Gobber's belt buckle. Suddenly, an image flashed into his head of a dragon wearing an armor of bone with a hole in his chest just large enough for that belt buckle. "Gobber?" he asked. "How did you get that belt buckle?"  
Gobber laughed and went off on a high tale involving hammer-head sharks and yaks and a dragon wearing an armor of… bone.  
Hiccup tried to discount it to his insomnia that started after the accident, but that was just another part of his insanity theory.  
The images continued, the voices kept speaking. It was almost as if someone was trying to have a conversation with him, but he couldn't quite respond.  
 _"It's not supposed to be fun. It's a Hiccup idea."_  
 _"I saw Toothless spit in it."_  
 _"No! It's metal!" "Leg…."_  
 _"Well your friends are an odd bunch…"_  
 _"See you later, Stormfly."_  
"Then during one raid, it came out to everyone else that he had gone insane. Or, more accurately, after the raid. The voices and visions were always louder during the raids.  
He saw Ruffnut standing outside the forge afterwards.  
 _"Ruff? You're… you're alive! I-I don't believe it! Where's Tuff?"_  
 _"He didn't make it, Hiccup."_  
Hiccup scrambled outside to her as fast as his bad leg could take him.  
 _"What?!"_  
 _"Kidding! He's right behind you."_  
"Hey Ruffnut! Where's your other half?" Hiccup said as soon as he got to her, trying to push the voices out as they persistently got louder.  
Ruffnut just stared at him, an empty look on her face.  
 _"Tuff hollowed out that tree so he couldn't be seen. Problem is he can't move."_  
 _"And I have bark beetles in my pants."_  
"Are you serious?" Hiccup heard a growl from behind him. He spun around to find Astrid with her axe pointed at him. "Tuffnut died in the raid LAST NIGHT! And you have the audacity to ask where he is! NOW!"  
"I-I," Hiccup stuttered as he backed away from Astrid, putting his hands over his ears as Tuff's voice got louder and louder.  
 _"We knew that. That's… why we did it."_  
 _"Wait, would you capitalize 'serious' or 'trouble'? Both?"_  
"Shut up!" Hiccup screamed out before falling over, blacking out.  
That was just the start of Hiccup's blackouts. They would randomly occur whenever the voices became too much. Most people avoided him as if insanity was contagious. Except Ruffnut. She would still go out during the dragon raids, but other than that, she seemed to spend all her waking hours with Hiccup. She never said a word though, but as far as he could tell, she didn't speak to anyone.  
After a few months of this, Hiccup looked up at her and asked if she wanted to hear a story. To his surprise, she nodded. So, he started telling her of the things he heard and saw, filling in the gaps where needed. After another couple of months, Ruff started laughing and smiling again. She still never talked and never did this around other people. Then again, Hiccup never told the stories around others either, not even Gobber.  
However, there is one story that he still hasn't told her and was praying that he would never have to…


	2. Chapter 2

The day all of that changed was a very strange one indeed. Hiccup was given the day off on account that he was up late the night before due to a midnight raid. Little did Gobber know that Hiccup had slept two hours in the last two weeks and could have worked just fine.

But he didn't complain and simply went out to find Ruffnut. He found her just leaving the Great Hall. "I have the day off," he put simply and the two were off to the woods, baskets that were picked up at Ruff's house in hand. Hiccup had learned through the visions that Tuffnut had enjoyed berry-picking, believing it to be a very "masculine" activity. He confirmed this to be true with Ruff then proceeded to go into the woods with her on everyone of his days off to collect berries in honor of Tuff.

The voices were continuing the usual pranter, but, thankfully, no visions yet.

" _Mind cluing us in on what 'tangy' and unexpected' mean?"_

Hiccup smiled as he tried to push whatever mystery was happening in his head to the back of his mind and focus on the task at hand.

Ruff finally found a good bush for them to start picking from, but as soon as they started, Hiccup's head suddenly started spinning and spots appeared in his vision. "No, not here," he moaned putting one hand to his head. If he blacked out now, Ruff would drag him all the way back to the village, whether he wanted her to or not. The voices got louder as Ruff stopped what she was doing and looked up worriedly at him.

" _I'm here for my dragon!"_

Ruff stood up and helped him down to the ground just in case he did pass out.

" _Hang on Astrid!"_

" _Hiccup!"_

" _Dive bud dive! Grab my hand!"_

The world seemed to start spinning around Hiccup as he caught a wisp of a vision of Astrid with chains wrapping around her. A loud "NOOO!" erupted in his ears and then suddenly cut off as the spinning stopped and his vision cleared.

He looked up at Ruffnut, a look of worry clear on her face. "They stopped," he whispered after a minute, leaving her to look at him in confusion. "They stopped!" he cried out in joy as he realized that for the first time in four years, the only voice in his head was his own….


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

 **I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read this story so far! I always get really nervous at putting my work out there, so your guy's responses really warmed my heart!  
ToxicGirlfriend: Thank you! And thank you for pointing out the problem with the first chapter too!  
DeathStrike59: My goal is to update every Sunday. I know I'm updating on Monday today, but that is my goal!**

* * *

After a few minutes of just sitting there in stunned silence, Hiccup had Ruff help him to his feet, but he almost immediately collapsed. One look from her told him exactly what she was thinking. "You're right. I need to lay down. Let's go back to the village," he sighed. With Ruff's help, Hiccup started making his way back towards the village, the basket's left forgotten.

When they reached the edge of the village, Ruffnut suddenly pushed Hiccup back into the brush.

"Ow!" Hiccup cried out as he landed awkwardly on his leg.

Ruff just held up one hand, as if to shush him, her whole body bristling. She grabbed her spear and held it up as if ready to slaughter anyone who came near. Or anything.

Hiccup peered through the brush, gasping at the sight of dragons. They never attacked during the day. What was going on? Wait, was that a viking on top of a dragon?

"Ok, I take back everything. I have flat-out gone completely bonkers. Even more so than," Hiccup trailed off as Ruffnut looked back at him, panic in her eyes. "I'm not seeing them in my head, are I? You are too? They're real?"

Ruff gave a slow nod. Hiccup started panicking, "B-b-but vikings HATE dragons! They despise them! Try to kill every single one they see. This… this makes no sense!" Hiccup's fingers were grasping at his long tufts of hair.

He heard Ruff let out a slight gasp and looked up to see his dad, his DAD, walking through the village alongside a peculiar-looking dragon that looked like a multi-colored beetle. "Dad!" he cried out and attempted to scramble to his feet, determined to crawl there if he couldn't get his darn leg to work. Ruff grasped at him, dropping her spear in the process as she struggled to keep his upright as he all but ran towards his dad, his bad leg almost dragging behind him as it refused to work at the speed he wanted to go at.

Stoick looked towards the sound, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "Son?" he said in confusion, as if he didn't quite recognize him. "What are you doing here? Where is Toothless? Wh-what happened to your leg?!"

Hiccup looked down at his leg to see one of bars had bent funny, causing the whole brace to come off-balance. No wonder he was having a hard time moving around. "Oh, it must have gotten damaged in the woods," he looked up to see his dad staring at him, shock filling his entire face. "I'll fix it," his voice dropping into almost a nervous whisper.

"Come," Stoick simply stated, not of the usual boom in his voice. He turned and started through the village. Hiccup and Ruffnut quickly followed him, with Ruff keeping herself carefully placed in between Hiccup and the dragon who followed Stoick as well.

Hiccup sighed in Relief as he saw they were going to their house. At least that was something familiar. It did seem a bit smaller than usual. When they got inside, Ruff helped Hiccup over to a chair. As soon as he was seated, Hiccup leaned down and started undoing the bolts holding his brace together before the mis-shappen device could seriously injure him.

"Son?" Hiccup looked up to see his father seated across from him, the strange dragon behind him. In the house. "What happened to your leg?"

"Why is there a dragon in the house?" Hiccup gave as an answer.

"Skullcrusher?" Stoick turned toward the dragon then back to Hiccup. "Why are you so confused about that? And for that matter, where is Toothless? And the rest of the team?"

Hiccup felt a sharp pain in his side, but ignored it as he leaned forward to say, "Toothless? Who even is that? And you still aren't answering my question! As of last night, we were FIGHTING dragons." The pain returned, though, this time, it felt more like a job.

"Fight dragons? What in Thor's name are you talking about?" Stoick exclaimed.

"I'm talking about the raids!" Hiccup exclaimed grabbing at his hair. The jab happened again and he realized who was doing it. "What!" he whipped towards Ruff. She just raised an eyebrow at him and tapped his head with a finger. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "You don't mean?" She smiled and nodded as he finally got it, "But those are just stories. Voices in my head. They're not real." Hiccup bent over, his fingers once again grasping at his hair, "They can't be."

He heard the sounds of his father standing up. " Come son. Maybe you need to lie down for a bit," Hiccup felt his father's reassuring hand on his back and looked up to see his father smiling gently at him. Not a sight often seen.

Hiccup sighed, "All right. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just having another one of my crazy hallucinations."

Ruffnut moved to help Hiccup up, considering he still had his cast off, but Stoick put up a hand to stop her. "I got this girl," he lifted Hiccup up and helped him across the room towards the stairs.

"Um, dad? Where are we going? I haven't slept up there in years," HIccup looked up at his father.

Stoick looked down at his son, concern in his eyes, but simply stated, "Yes, you do. Now let's get you to bed." Stoick guided Hiccup up the stairs and to his bed. "Now, everything should make sense when you wake up."

Hiccup nodded and laid down, actually worn out for once. His last conscious thought was wondering what that strange rock slab was doing in the corner….


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

 **Hello my dears! Here we are, another chapter of Dimensions. And, yeah, that is all I really have to say. Enjoy!  
** **ToxicGirlfriend: Well here you go! Hopefully it gives you more of an idea of where he ended up.  
** **nia2012: Oh thank you! I can't tell you how excited it makes me to get reactions like that!**

* * *

" _That one?"_

" _For the last time… oh, that's exactly the one. My bad."_

" _Hiccup, I recognize these holes. Why didn't you tell me we were going to an island full of Whispering Deaths."_

" _Because I knew you would react exactly like this."_

Hiccup jerked up as something monstrous appeared in his dream. "Scre-scre," he faltered off as he looked around. "This-this isn't my room."

The events of the day before rushed at him. He couldn't quite figure out if it was a dream or not. The lack of voices in his head seemed to confirm that either he was still in the dream or it wasn't one at all. He looked around for his brace, but couldn't find it.

"D-dad?" he called out, knowing he wouldn't be able to make it down those stairs, even with his brace. One too many tumbles taught him that.

He heard loud thudding as something ascended the stairs, confirming that yesterday's events indeed happened.

Stoick poked his head into the room, "Son? What are you doing still in bed?"

"Look, I don't know what happened or why the whole world is suddenly acting upside down. All I know is I can't even walk on this thing," Hiccup gestured to his bad leg, "without my brace, let alone try to navigate stairs.

"You've never had an issue before," Stoick calmly stated. "Why you specifically designed your leg…"

Hiccup burst out laughing, "Design a leg? Nobody can design a leg! Well, unless it is a fake one, which is a pretty ingenious idea. But impossible considering I have two perfectly real ones."

Stoick raised his eyebrows in shock at this last statement and made his way around the bed with Hiccup carefully watching. When he made his way to the other side, he lurched forward, jerking off Hiccup's left boot and pushing up his pant leg.

"Hey!" Hiccup cried out trying to push his dad away, but it was too late. The horrible mess of scars, burns, and gauze that made up his leg became visible.

Stoick stumbled back, bumping into a desk. "You-you aren't my son."

"Dad?" Hiccup questioned, a little put-off by his dad's reaction.

Stoick regained his bearings and pointed at Hiccup, "I don't know who you are and why you are pretending to be my son, but rest-assured, I've already sent a message to him and he will be here shortly. But you are a very poor actor. Not even knowing who Toothless is. Ha! And that girl down there, who is she supposed to be? Ruffnut? She hasn't said a word this whole time. As if Ruffnut could shut up for ten seconds."

Hiccup just sort of started at him, eyes wide. Stoick walked out of the room, leaving Hiccup in the bed with no way to leave.

A few minutes later, more footsteps came up the steps and in came, "Gobber?" Hiccup said in complete shock.

"Hello lad. I fixed this brace-thingy of yours," Gobber set the brace on the bed before taking note of Hiccup's still-exposed leg. "Odin's beard boy! What happened to you!"

"Gobber, you were there. Usual clumsy self. Tripped. Started a fire. Burned the forge down. You and I barely got out. Almost lost the darn thing. Sometimes I wish I did," Hiccup looked up at Gobber, praying that he did.

But alas, Gobber shook his head, "No lad. You did, in a dragon fight actually."

"I'm pretty sure that it's still here," Hiccup gestured to his leg. "Um, can you hand me my boot please?"

Gobber walked over to where it had been dropped by the desk and picked it up along with one of the notebooks on the desk. "Here you go lad. You aren't allowed to leave this room. Chief's orders. So do us all a favor and actually listen this time," as he said this, Gobber made his way over to the door and left. Hiccup pulled his boot back on and then looked over at the notebook laying next to his newly fixed brace. It laid there, almost taunting him. Hiccup looked away, trying not to think about it. Eventually, he peeked back at it and then let out a sigh of defeat. He reached over and picked up the journal and opened it…


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm sorry everyone that this is a day late, but it seems that upload dates will be temporarily shifting to Monday's. My computer crashed on me on Friday, so I had to wait for the computer lab at my school to open today. Luckily, I have several copies of this story saved in various places, so something extremely terrible would have to happen for me to lose it all. That is why I don't keep stuff on my laptop solely anymore. Anyways, the perspective of this chapter shifts very early on to someone else, you'll see when you get there. I'll shift it back after this chapter, but the scene just worked better from another perspective.  
ToxicGirlfriend: I'm sorry! I am notorious when it comes to cliffhangers. But I do try to limit them to every other chapter if I can. **

Ruff made her way up the stairs, a bowl of stew in hand. She gently pushed open the door and peeked in to see Hiccup sitting in the bed, flipping through the pages of a book. She walked over to the bed and cleared her throat, causing the boy to jump.

"Wh-what? Oh, Ruffnut, it's you," he let out a sigh of relief. "What's that?" He leaned over towards the bowl as Ruff set it down on the table beside him. "Oh, I guess you've learned of my banishment to my room. Which I have no choice but to listen to because my greatest enemy stands between me and freedom. Stairs."

Hiccup let out a huff before he continued, "And on top of that, my dad and Gobber don't even believe I'm me! They think I'm some sort of impostor. And honestly I'm starting to believe it myself. Just look at this," he picked up the journal and flipped through the pages toward the beginning. "See, I remember designing these. I remember BUILDING these. This is exactly like a journal I have until this page," he flipped to a strange looking dragon that looked like it had a tail-fin smudged out and drawn in again, "I didn't draw this. From this point on, I don't recognize any of the drawings or schematics. I didn't make any of these. But this is my handwriting." Hiccup let out a long sigh, dropping the book back on the bed as he fell backwards onto the bed.

Ruff leaned forward and waved her hand over his face. No response. He had blacked out.

* * *

Gobber was just leaving the Chief's house when a shout went up from the village, "It's the dragon-riders!" He looked up to see five dragons swooping overhead, a long black one in the lead. The group landed in the clearing in front of the chief's house and a boy with auburn hair gave Gobber a grin before dismounting the black dragon.

"Hey Gobber!" the boy called out in a nasally voice. "What's going on? My dad seemed panicked in the Terror mail he sent, but it didn't really explain."

"Well Hiccup," Gobber started, "to put it quite simply, there is a boy in your room that looks an awful lot like you."

"Me?" Hiccup said. "Someone is here trying to impersonate me. But, why?"

"Beats me," Gobber shrugged. "That boy is a terrible actor, but he is very convinced by his own story."

"Gobber that doesn't even make any sense," Hiccup sighed as Astrid walked up beside him.

"Go inside and see for yourself. Oh, and you might want to reassure your dad while you're at it. He seems pretty shaken up by the whole thing." With that, Gobber hobbled off back to his shop.

Hiccup turned to Astrid, worry in both of their eyes. A silent exchange occurred before the two walked up to the house, Toothless close behind.

The first thing Hiccup saw upon entering his house was his father sitting by the fire, staring off into the distance. "D-dad?" he called to him, a little nervous considering whatever seemed to be happening.  
Stoick turned towards the door, the haziness of his eyes clearing as he spotted Hiccup. "Son!" he boomed out as he made his way over to Hiccup, scooping up his son in a huge bear hug.

"D-dad! Air" Hiccup gasped out.

"Oh, sorry," Stoick put him down. "I'm just glad to see you."

Hiccup had wrapped one arm around his middle, bent over, trying to get his lungs working again. "Well," he gasped out, "I'm glad. To see. You too." It took a minute for him to right himself and question his father, "So, why did you call me home from the Edge so suddenly?"

Stoick turned towards the stairs, his expression suddenly becoming stormy. "Take a look for yourself boy," he muttered turning back towards the fire.

Hiccup looked up towards the stairs and started towards them with Toothless directly behind him. He quietly made his way up the stairs and paused at the door, listening for a moment, before pushing the door open just enough to peek in. A girl was standing at the window with her back to him, so Hiccup looked towards the bed. And what he saw there left him staring in shock.

A boy was there with his auburn hair, although a little shaggier, and his face. Which shouldn't be possible. No, not shouldn't, COULDN'T be possible. This boy was messing with something on his leg that Hiccup couldn't quite see. When the boy spoke, it sounded just like him too! Although the boy's voice was a little softer, "Ruff, what is it? What do you see?" The boy then sort of picked himself up as he turned so that his feet were on the floor facing Hiccup. Wait, feet? Sure enough, this kid had his left leg and foot, something Hiccup himself had not seen for four years. Although it did have a metal brace covering most of it.

At this point, the boy turned his head just enough that he caught sight of Hiccup. He jerked his head back and Hiccup realized that he had seen those eyes before, staring back at himself out of the reflection of ponds or buckets of water. This boy looked like almost an exact copy of Hiccup himself right down to the scar on his chin.

At that exact moment, Toothless decided to take a look and pushed his head into the room. The boy shifted his eyes down to look at Toothless and a look of panic and dread filled his eyes. He let out a screech that sounded vaguely like, "DEMON!" and threw himself back in flurry to put as much distance between himself and the door as he could.

"Hey, hey!" Hiccup said as he took a couple steps forward, his hands up in an attempt to calm the boy. He was stopped suddenly as the girl that he had forgotten was in the room jumped in between him and the boy, a dagger pointed at his chest. Hiccup took a step back as he noted that this girl did indeed look like Ruffnut. "Look, I'm just here to talk."

The girl just narrowed her eyes and the boy seemed to calm down a little after Hiccup motioned for Toothless to calm down. "Ok, see we are all calm. Can you please put the knife down?"

The girl stayed frozen in place until the boy said, "It's ok Ruff. Put it down." The girl then slowly lowered the knife and returned it to the sheath on her side. She then carefully made her way to the boy without turning her back on Hiccup and Toothless. When she reached him, she carefully helped the boy to his feet, her eyes never leaving Hiccup.

Hiccup crossed his arms, "Well now that we are on friendly terms, I think, it's time we get introductions done. Who are you two? And tell me the absolute truth."

"Well, I think you already met Ruff," the boy gestured to the girl who was still standing protectively beside him. "And I'm Hiccup heir to Berk." His expression darkened as he muttered to himself at a volume that Hiccup could barely hear, "For now….."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So I realized I goofed when writing this chapter because there are now two Hiccups and two Ruffnuts. So, I had to add in a little part so that nobody gets confused. And yes, Hicks is the German version of Hiccup's name and since I've seen that version almost as much as the English version, I used it.  
ToxicGirlfriend: Thank you so much! Every time I see a review from you, it warms my heart so much!**

* * *

Hiccup watched as the boy by the door that looked a lot like himself started laughing. "What?" he demanded.

"You-you're not Hiccup! I am!" the boy said between chuckles.

"Seriously? I'm pretty sure I am," Hiccup crossed his arms, a scowl appearing on his face. Ruff put one hand on his arm reassuringly.

"What do you want a full introduction?" the boy suddenly sobered up. He looked up for a minute before spreading out his arms and puffing up his chest in an effort to look as dramatic as possible, "I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son of Stoick the Vast, heir to the Hairy Hooligans, rider of the great Night Fury, and pride of Berk." The black dragon beside him looked at him and let out a small chirp, "And this is Toothless."

Hiccup just stared at him for a silent moment before the sound of laughter erupted from outside the room. A girl with golden hair and a large axe came in, holding her stomach with the hand that wasn't holding the axe. She was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face.

After a few minutes, she calmed down to an almost constant giggle. The boy just pouted at her and muttered, "That wasn't very nice."

"I'm sorry," the girl said between giggles, "But when have you ever called yourself THAT?"

The boy just rolled his eyes and gestured towards her, "This is Astrid. As much as a pain as she can be, she is my second-in-command."

"Seriously?" Hiccup blurted out, disbelief in his voice. "You look nothing like her."

Astrid stopped giggling and narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean by that?"

Hiccup suddenly felt like he should shut up and didn't say anything else.

"Well," the boy said after a tense moment, "We can't keep calling you Hiccup, especially since that is my name. We are going to have to call you something else. How about Hicks? That's what I was called by a…"

"Germanic tribe that sailed too far north and almost bought out the armory," Hiccup finished.

The boy frowned, "Wait how did you know about that?"  
Hiccup shrugged before simply stating, "Because I was there when it happened."

The boy narrows his eyes, "Ok then, Hicks, what else do you remember?"

'Hicks' rolled his eyes and hobbled over to the bed. "I remember designing and building these," he said, flipping to the schematics at the beginning of the book, "Including this machine. I remember using it." He had stopped at the drawing of what looked like a cross between a crossbow and a cannon. "But the day after I used it… I heard what fancy titles you used which made it clear to me that even if you are just a figment of my imagination, you are my subconscious showing me what I could possibly be and reminding me of what a failure I am."

Hiccup looked behind him at Astrid and Toothless then back at Hicks, "Why do you think we would be just a figment of your imagination?"

Hicks just shrugged, "It's not that out there. There is a reason I'm known as the village's crazy person. I haven't been entirely convinced that this isn't another one of my crazy visions."

Hiccup frowned as he looked down at the journal that Hicks still had open in his hands, "Wait a second that looks like…" He walked forward enough to snatch the journal out of Hick's hands. "I know this machine. You said you build and used that machine?"

He looked up at Hicks who gave a small nod of affirmation. "Did you shoot down a dragon the day you used it?"

"Yes," Hicks quietly replied. He felt Ruff's hand on his arm, but ignored it.

Hiccup flipped the page to what looked like a simplistic map with many X's and a large scribble over it. "What about this?"

Hicks swallowed and nodded yes to this as well.

"Did you find a downed dragon, a dragon that YOU shot down, that day?" Hiccup took another step forward. Hicks looked down, remaining quiet. "You found him didn't you? Please Hicks this is important, did you KILL that dragon?..."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So sorry for being late yet again. I'm officially changing the date each chapter is released to Monday due to still having no personal computer. Eventually, I'll be back to normal. Enjoy!  
** **Ulcaasi: Thank you so much!  
ToxicGirlfriend: I know right! Well, prepare yourself because more twists and turns are on their way.**

* * *

There was silence for a long moment as the identical boys were at a stand-off, one refusing to give an answer and the other demanding it. Eventually the latter gave in, deciding to try a different tactic.

"The dragon that I KNOW you found that day, I didn't kill him. Instead, he," Hiccup had backed up and placed a hand on Toothless.

"Became your best friend," Hiccup jerked his head up as Hicks chimed in for the rest of the sentence. When he received a dumbfounded look, he simply tapped his head, "Visions. Voices. That's what they always said."

"Then why did you call him a demon when you first saw him?" Hiccup questioned.

"Because he is a dragon. And where I come from the War against them is on-going," Hicks let out a long sigh as he looked out the window as a group of Terrible Terrors flew by the window.

Astrid took a step forward, bringing everyone's eyes to herself, "Why don't you take Hicks to Gothi? She might be able to help ease his mind. Meanwhile, I'll talk to Ruff, see if I can't find out more about where you guys come from."

"Ruff doesn't speak," Hicks commented. "I'm the only one who can communicate with her."

"Not even her brother?" Astrid asked.

Both Hicks and Ruff's demeanors immediately darkened. "Tuff, he died, a few years ago," Hicks muttered.

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged a look. "Well then," Astrid started, sounding a little uncertain, " Would you like to see him again? He is still alive here."

Ruff's eyes widened and she looked to Hicks who gave her a small smile, "Go."

Ruff scrambled over the bed, past Hiccup and Astrid, and down the stairs. Astrid looked after her for a moment then gave a quick, "Good luck," before following the girl.

Hiccup turned back to Hicks before giving a small nod towards the stairs, "Come on, let's go see Gothi."

"I can't," Hicks walked around the bed, but made nomove to go down the stairs. Gesturing to his leg, he continued, "This brace prevents me from navigating stairs very well. Besides, dad forbade me from leaving this room."

"Don't worry about him. And we'll help you. I had trouble when I had to adjust to my new leg," Hiccup turned to Toothless and gestured for him to leave. "I'll go down in front of you to help keep you steady and catch you if you fall. If I can't keep both of us steady, Toothless will catch us."

Hicks gave Hiccup a dubious look before nodding and the two began a slow and shaky journey down the stairs. They were making good progress when Hick's leg hit a knot in the wood of the staircase and he vaulted forward. Hiccup caught him, as promised, but the sensation of lightning that bolted through the two caused them to immediately throw themselves apart.

The two stayed still for just a moment, staring at each other before Hiccup said, "Ok, that was strange. Let's try again, this time without falling."

Hicks nodded and started down the stairs, this time much slower. Eventually, they made it to the bottom of the stairs and Hicks looked around the empty house, "Where did Dad go?"

"Probably out doing his chiefing duties," Hiccup responded, walking over to the back door and quickly scanning the outside. He quickly bolted out and behind a small shed. Hicks followed as fast as he could, which was more of a very quick stumble.

"What are we doing?" He panted not used to working his legs this quickly. He usually stayed in the shop all day.

"Until Gothi figures out what is going on, I'd rather have less people know there are two of me than absolutely necessary," Hiccup quickly made his way to behind the next house.

Hicks followed, barely keeping up, "So, you don't believe I'm an imposter?"

"Nope," Hiccup looked at Hicks who was already out of breath. "What are the chances of you riding Toothless to Gothi's?"

Hicks looked behind him at Toothless who had been following the boys, "You're kidding me right?'

"Nope," Hiccup then pointed at Hicks and said, "Toothless, carry him."

"Wha?" Hicks barely got out before he felt the back of his shirt being grabbed and his body being lifted off the ground and flipped till he landed on a saddle. "Ow!" He cried out.

"Shhhh!" Hiccup hushed him before sneaking off to behind the next building.

"Why are we sneaking around anyway? And why are we going to Gothi's? Is she still alive here too?" Hicks questioned.

"Yes she is still alive. And I would rather not have anyone spot us. The village tends to panic way too easily and until we figure this out, I'd rather not have to deal with anyone. Now please be quiet," Hiccup shushed him again.

Hicks huffed, but kept quiet as the trio snuck around the back of the village.

Eventually, the group reached a small hut on the top of a hill that looked like it could fall off at any moment. Hiccup turned to Hicks and Toothless and held up a hand as he said, "Wait here you two. I'm going to find Fishlegs or Gobber."

The boy darted off, leaving Hicks sitting there alone with Toothless. Toothless looked back at Hicks, a strange look of his draconian face. Hicks looked at him for a long moment, drawn in by the hypnotic-like eyes, but then quickly whipped his head away, "OH shut up you demon." There was silence for another minute while Toothless continued to stare. "Look," he finally snapped, "I didn't kill you. Just because…"

He trailed off as he saw Hiccup and another boy run up. "Wow Hiccup! You were right, he looks just like you," the boy said, awe on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I look just like his identical twin. Can I get off this beast now so we can figure out what is going on?" Hicks snapped. He was really getting irritated and being on Toothless was really not comfortable, especially with his brace.

"Oh, right, bad leg. Fishlegs, do you mind helping Hicks?" Hiccup asked the larger boy.

"Not exactly identical though with different names. Oh, and you actually have your leg!" The boy, Fishlegs, excitedly babbled on as he walked over to help Hicks down.

"No, my name is Hiccup. This genius decided to call me Hicks instead," Hicks grudgingly accepted the help off of Toothless, stumbling as he got back on solid ground.

"Oh," Fishlegs looked over at Hiccup, a questioning look on his face.

"Come on," Hiccup gestured with his head towards the hut. "Time to find out where you're really from…"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I know! I'm actually updating this on Sunday like I'm supposed to! Haha, sorry guys about the last few weeks. My computer has since been temporarily replaced as mines hard drive went out. Luckily, I don't keep important things on just my computer. I take full use of Google Drive and flash drives.**

* * *

The trio walked into Gothi's hut to find her stirring something in a large cauldron. "Gothi," Hiccup called, getting the attention of the old lady. She turned, narrowing her eyes as she spotted Hicks.

Gothi hobbled over to him and used the end of her staff to pull Hicks down to eye level. He cried out in surprise, but made no move to try and pull away.

She eventually let him go and started writing in a dirt patch nearby. "Who is this?" Fishlegs translated.

"Well, he believes himself to be me. And frankly, I believe him. Only difference is he thinks that the dragon war is still going on. Almost like he is what I would have been if I didn't befriend Toothless and kill the Red Death," Hiccup explained.

Fishlegs laughed, "Oh Hiccup! Now that's just crazy talk."

"I know a thing or two about crazy talk. He hasn't reached that point yet," Hicks commented.

Gothi looked thoughtful for a moment and cast some runes, frowning at the results. She then wrote something new. "I think Hiccup might be right," Fishlegs translated, shock in his voice.

"What!" Both Hicks and Hiccup shouted before looking at each other.

"B-but that's impossible," Hicks stuttered out before suddenly grabbing onto the back of a nearby chair, whispering, "Oh no." The world was starting to spin around him and his vision was starting to fade.

"Hicks!" Hiccup cried out, grabbing the boy as he suddenly began to drop, ignoring the shock that began going through him.

Gothi reached out her arms in an attempt to stop them, but she was too late. In another second, the two boys were gone.

* * *

Ruff was staring out the door of Hiccup's house when Astrid caught up to her. She looked over the silent girl's shoulder to see Tuffnut, Snotlout, and her Ruffnut talking and laughing. SHe smiled and said, "Well, what are you waiting for?" pushing past Ruff, yet snatching up her wrist to drag her out.

"Hey guys!" Astrid called out."I got a little surprise for you."  
Tuffnut turned towards Astrid, "What, my sister? Sorry Astrid, but I kinda knew I had one."

"Uh, that's not me bro," Ruffnut stepped forward into Tuffnut's line of sight.

Tuffnut looked at her and then back at Ruff and scratched his head with one hand in confusion, "Wait a second, I have TWO sisters?"

"That's awesome!" Ruffnut said, excitedly, "Now there is more of us to blow stuff up!"

At this moment, Ruff stepped forward to pull Tuffnut into a hug, then she stepped back and punched him square in the nose. "Ow!" He cried out while Ruff crossed her arms, a smug smile on her face.

Astrid gave a small smile before she heard her name being bellowed out. She turned to see Stoick marching up with Skullcrusher close behind.

Astrid scurried to meet him while he was still a ways from the others. "What can I do for you chief?" She asked.

"I thought you said you would stay with Hiccup and that other boy. That I didn't have to worry as long as you stayed with them," Stoick growled, pulling himself up to full height.

"I know chief," Astrid explained, "But Toothless is with Hiccup and the two are at Gothi's. They will be fine. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Hicks is terrified of dragons so that should keep him in place."

"Hicks?" Stoick asked.

"Hiccup decided to call the boy that seeing as he is insisting his name is Hiccup," Astrid explained.

Stoick nodded, but before he could speak again, a cry came up from behind them. Astrid whipped around to see Ruff and Ruffnut each holding their torsos like they were in pain. "What happened?" She asked.

"I don't know. I went to give our new sister-in-crime a hug and I felt like I was being hit by lightning," Ruffnut said.

"But there was nothing when she hugged Tuffnut," Astrid wondered as she walked closer to the group. She reached up and put a hand on Ruffnut's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Ruffnut asked, but Astrid ignored her as she lifted her other hand and placed it on Ruff's shoulder. Instantly, what felt like a bolt of lightning went through her and she dropped to the ground.

"Lass! Are you ok?" Stoick asked, worriedly.

"I-I'm fine," Astrid managed to get out, slowly picking herself up off the ground.

"I think you have been hanging around my son too much. You're becoming reckless like him," he commented.

Astrid managed to get to her feet with Ruff's help, but let out a sudden gasp, "Hiccup!" She took off through the village towards Gothi's hut. After a quick glance at each other, Ruff and Ruffnut ran after her, followed quickly by Tuffnut and Snotlout.

The group was suddenly stopped, however, when Astrid ran into a panicking Fishlegs while turning a corner.

"Fishlegs! What is wrong?" Astrid asked, trying to calm down the hysterical boy.

"H-H-Hiccup a-and the b-boy he w-was w-with," Fishlegs stuttered. "Th-th-they…"

"They what, Fishlegs?" Astrid asked, starting to get irritated with the boy. "Th-they're GONE!" He cried out.

"What do you mean gone?" Snotlout demanded.

"I mean poof. Vanished. Disappeared into thin air. The boy passed out and Hiccup caught him and then they were gone," Fishlegs explained, panic still in his voice.

Astrid gasped in shock, "Oh no…"


End file.
